the Coronavirus crisis. Usually, state candidates in Texas get the majority of their donations from Texans. Paddie has received thousands in contributions from these entities in election years, but never this amount immediately after a legislative session. Fixing Texas power grid was about the only thing Republicans and Democrats in the legislative session seemed to agree on earlier this year. However, both candidates have national profiles, with Abbott regularly appearing on Fox News and ORourke running for president in 2020. He has attacked the city of Austin repeatedly for reducing its police budget and repealing a ban on camping in public spaces that had generated thousands of citations to homeless people in the past. Texas Gov. Neither Cobos or the spokesperson ended up providing a statement for this story. Overall since 2014, Abbott has received about $30 million from oil, gas and other energy interests, which is about 18% of his $166 million total raised in that time. This is up from 19% after the 2019 session. Of the donors, O'Rourke's campaign said 98% of the donations were received online and that teachers contributed more than any other occupation. The leading two candidates for Texas governor each pulled in about $25 million in campaign contributions during the summer, with a slight edge going to Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke who reported 10 times as many donors. Abbott is bought and paid for by his billionaire donors, a spokesperson for ORourkes campaign told Forbes in an email. Aug. 4, 20215 AM Central. such as textbooks, contact OpenSecrets: info[at]crp.org. While some of this money. The Bush familys origin story in Texas revolves around oil and gas, and money from the industry has funded much of the familys political fortunes in the state ever since they arrived in West Texas. I wouldnt count him out., Last fall, Abbott gave money and shared his campaigns detailed voter information database with GOP hopefuls in several of the key Texas House contests. sectors) can be seen in each candidate and race profile, and in the Industry Profile section of the OpenSecrets However, her son, H. Ross Perot Jr., who is also a billionaire, has given $500,000 to Abbotts campaign. ORourke, who has had significantly less time to fundraise compared to Abbott, reported raising $4.3 million from the beginning of the year to February 19, compared to Abbott, who raised $5.3 million in the same time frame. Absent that storm, his contributions would have been different, said Bill Miller, a longtime Texas political consultant and lobbyist. FEC and listed quickly on OpenSecrets processing and analyzing the detailed records takes much longer. ORourke received about 391,496 individual donations from outside the state, while Abbott received roughly 109,493. Texas Gov. Paddie received contributions from Oncor; Vistra, the states largest power generation company; and NuStar Political Action Committee, an oil and gas group. Earlier, he was a statehouse reporter for three newspapers, including the Dallas Times Herald. As Gov. The Texas House Committee on State Affairs is scheduled to hold a joint hearing Thursday morning with the House Energy Resources Committee to examine what led to statewide electrical blackouts. A Texas Politics Project July poll indicates the race for Texas governor is tightening. Gov. Greg Abbott said his campaign raised nearly $19 million in the last six months of 2021, a total that brought his campaign war chest to a staggering $65 million in December. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue across the country are declining, The Texas Tribune remains committed to sustaining our mission: creating a more engaged and informed Texas with every story we cover, every event we convene and every newsletter we send. Abbott raises $19 million, Beto O'Rourke's fast start nets $7.2 million in race for governor. However, Abbott s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak has attracted criticism from Democrats, independents and staunchly conservative Republicans, weakening his once-robust job approval ratings in public polls. Crenshaw, 36, is almost as renowned a fundraiser as Abbott, 63. Since a deadly winter storm hit Texas earlier this month Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly heaped criticism on ERCOT, the operator of the states electric grid, claiming the entity was woefully unprepared for the dangerous weather that has killed a still-untold number of people. The remaining figures - based on detailed contribution data - are updated by OpenSecrets "As we move into the heat of the summer campaign, were well positioned to fund all our campaign efforts, Texans for Greg Abbott Campaign Chairman Gardner Pate said in the Friday release. Get the latest politics news from North Texas and beyond. Both candidates have received more campaign cash from ZIP codes where wealthier people live because thats who tends to give money to politicians on both sides of the aisle. Both are from Dallas. Just 6%, or $1,141, of his overall campaign contributions in the brief June fundraising period after the 2015 legislative session came from the energy industry. Governor Abbott represents all Texans, and thats what he takes into account every day as he works on behalf of the Lone Star State, spokeswoman Renae Eze said. The rest of Abbott's campaign contributions for the 2020 election cycle are made up of moderate-to-large donations as well as small-dollar donors. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. Although individual contributions are generally categorized based on the donor's occupation/employer, in some cases Based on the Governor Patrick, who moved immediately following the February storm to call for the resignations of both the PUC board and ERCOT, both of which were fully reformed through Senate Bills 2 and 3.. State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment by Carla Astudillo, Caroline Covington and Eric Lau in the DFW area that need your help or can provide help during Sometimes it's hard to make apple-to-apple comparisons across some of the pages in a candidate's profile. But to build a better future for every Texan, I need your help. In April, Abbott had been ahead of O'Rourke by 11 points. Those donations have added up, bringing in about $9.7 million for Abbott and $37.8 million for ORourke. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Just over 40% of the sum of ORourkes donations came from out-of-state donors, compared with 17% of Abbotts. assigned to all non-wage earning family members. If enough contributions came in from people connected How much have the candidates raised so far? O'Rourke, who launched his campaign in November, raised the significant sum over 46 days on the campaign trail from more than115,600 contributions of which roughly 80% were made online. O'Rourke's latest haul includes $2 million raised during the first 24 hours of his campaign, collected frommore than 20,000 individual donors. Democrat Beto O'Rourke hasraised $7.2 million since launchinghis campaign for Texas governor, according to his campaign. In the final half of 2020, Abbott collected contributions from 22,598 donors, 10,116 of whom were new, his campaign announced Wednesday. Gov. Democrats have not won a statewide office in three decades, but incumbent Republican Ken Paxton is deemed vulnerable because of his2015 felony indictment for securities fraudand unrelated accusations of corruption that his top aides took to the FBIin late 2020. State GOP Chairman Allen West heads most lists of possible challengers to Abbott in the March 2022 Republican primary, many of which also include former state Sen. Don Huffines. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Greg Abbott - Texas Governor (R) Now showing data for the 2022 election year. AUSTIN Since a deadly winter storm hit Texas earlier this month Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly heaped criticism on ERCOT, the operator of the states electric grid, claiming the entity was woefully unprepared for the dangerous weather that has killed a still-untold number of people. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to Friday press releases from both of the campaigns. ORourkes Powered by People PAC gave $1.7 million to his own campaign. But none has reaped campaign contributions on the scale of Abbott, who in six years in office has raised more than $150 million from donors, more than any governor in U.S. history. The Abbott campaign said it has raised nearly $68 million since the campaign's start in June 2021. databases are only as current as the FEC has been able to compile by that date (see the note above about lag times Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. Greg Abbott, the state budget and CPS and foster care. He helped raised $54 million for GOP gubernatorial candidates in other states, Carney said. In 2021, the Abbott campaign had out-raised the O'Rourke campaign since the start of their respective campaigns. Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. That far exceeds the $6.8 million in cash on hand that ORourkes committee, Beto For Texas, reported as of the same date. Oil grew to become the states signature industry, rich oilmen and companies started showering politicians with money and a romance blossomed. Gov. Greg Abbott continued his legislative push for "parental empowerment" in Austin on Wednesday while also expressing support for a bill meant to keep local . The twisted roots between the oil and gas industry and Texas lawmakers is almost as old as the Capitol building itself, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. Slawson and Shaheen each received $150 last year, records show. Oil and politics have been entwined in Texas for more than a century, since wildcatters hit the first gusher at Spindletop back in 1901. O'Rourke did not say how much money his campaign has on hand -- or how much it has spent -- while teasing his fundraising numbers before filing his latest campaign finance report. Patricks calls came after he tried to assert himself prominently in responding to the winter storm by demanding leadership changes at state regulatory agencies and sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. This past Valentine's Day, Texas Senator Drew Springer filed HB 923, delivering . Polling data suggests a large percentage of voters might agree with O'Rourke on increasing abortion access and gun reform. Greg Abbott - Governor of Texas "In Texas, anything is possible. Learn more about our work here. At the state level, corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions. Disclosure: Calpine, CenterPoint Energy, NRG Energy, Oncor, University of Texas at Austin and University of Houston have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. for data entry). Lori Cobos and DeAnn Walker, two Abbott appointees who sit on ERCOTs board due to their respective positions with the state, are listed among the governors lengthy list of political donors. Totals for industries (and larger economic contributions may be completely unrelated to the organization. Abbott.. Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Not long after, Abbott released a list of issues lawmakers needed to address in July during a special-called legislative session. While summary numbers are reported almost immediately by the In addition, both Gulf States Toyota Inc. State PAC and Q-PAC, which are tied to billionaire Dan Friedkin and Geoffrey Raynor, respectively, have also donated to Abbott in the past. Dan Patricks Senate. Warrens Energy Transfer cofounder Ray Davis gave $125,000 to Abbott. Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. That's four times more. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. by Mitchell Ferman and Carla Astudillo after the 20th of every month. their contributions as being related to the "First National Bank" since that's the source of the family's income. Greg Abbott. Among the state lawmakers Karnei has contributed to are representatives Shelby Slawson, Phil King and Matt Shaheen, all Republican members of the committee now charged with investigating ERCOT. Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. First, we apply a code to the contribution, identifying the industry. Just 6%, or $1,141, of his overall campaign contributions in the brief June fundraising period after the 2015 legislative session came from the energy industry. Do you value our journalism? sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. But Luthers star appears to have dimmed after she lost a special election for state Senate last month. Had the bill passed, Walker would not be running the PUC. In addition, Abbott has received donations from deep-pocketed donors in the real estate industry like Edward Roski Jr., president of Majestic Realty in California, who gave $1.5 million, as well as three donations of $1 million each from supporters in finance and casinos. Abbott received $4.6 million from energy. Billionaire money manager Ken Fisher, who lives in Dallas, donated $25,000 to Abbotts campaign, plus $100,000 to the Defend Texas PAC. Find a complete list of them here. Texas Ethics Commission records, however, show that three of the 13 representatives on the House Committee on State Affairs have accepted contributions from ERCOT board member Clifton Karnei. A fifth-generation Texan, Bob earned a bachelors degree from Harvard University. Democrat Rochelle Garza, a former attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, has struggled to fundraise at the levels needed to take on the well-funded and well-known incumbent. During the same stretch after the two subsequent legislative sessions in 2017 and 2019, fewer than 9% of Paddies contributions came from energy interests. OpenSecrets aggregates state data from many sources and formats. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions coming from energy interests after the 2019 session, about $383,000. DC Organizations like political action committees or industry associations can also give directly to candidate campaigns. On his first day in the gubernatorial race in November 2021, ORourke received donations worth a total of $1.7 million from his Powered by People PAC, which has been raising money since 2019 to boost Texas Democrats. Abbott raised more in smaller cities and rural areas. At the state level, But by the end of the legislative session, if Texas top power companies were aggrieved by the way they were treated by the Legislature or any of the new laws passed targeting their industry, they didnt show it. Abbott's campaign said his roughly $25 million in donations from the most recent filing period came from nearly 45,000 contributors, which is 1/10th of the number of donors reported by his. interest group. committee AND the candidate has received money from PACs representing that same ideological interest. In cases where two or more people from the same family contributed, the income-earner's occupation/employer is The amount of money the senator fundraised from energy interests jumped from $1,000 to $44,500, the Tribune found. Abbott's support comes from a wide variety of Texans all across the Lone Star State." O'Rourke's haul came from 511,000 donors, with. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. the first of the month. Data for Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, who is seeking his third term in office, has reported huge fundraising hauls in the past, amassing staggering amounts of cash in his campaign coffers. The state of Texas imposes no limits on how much money you can give to your local representative, your senator, your governor, said Wheat. His campaign accepted more than $12 million in political contributions from oil and gas companies and executives this election cycle. Learn more. July 19, 2022 Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to. Campaign finance reports by Abbott, Lt. Gov. Thats significantly more than former Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke. On June 23, Warren cut a check to Abbott's campaign for $1 million, according to the governor's latest campaign finance filing, which covers January through June. While former Gov. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. The money came from159,000 total contributions with an average contribution of roughly $119, his campaign said Tuesday. Separate from discussion of the virus outbreak, some have wondered whether Houston-area GOP congressman Dan Crenshaw, whos seen nationally as a Republican comer, might jump into a race against Abbott. The O'Rourke campaign has not yet released how much cash on hand it has. Given more time, Gov. With this tracker, The Express-News is providing continuously updated information on political contributions for the Nov. 8, 2022, elections, along with lists of top donors by name and by industry for statewide candidates for governor, attorney general, and lieutenant governor. Other billionaires with major oil and gas interests who are backing Abbott include Nancy Kinder, the wife of Kinder Morgan cofounder Richard Kinder; Hilcorp cofounder Jeff Hildebrand; Chief Oil & Gas founder Trevor Rees-Jones; Hunt Oil heir Ray Lee Hunt and Western Refining founder Paul Foster, who Abbott appointed to run the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission in April last year. This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. About 26% of Patrick's contributions in June came from energy interests, more than $1.3 million, his most ever in the post-session stretch. OpenSecrets updates federal figures for "Total Raised and Spent" and for "PAC/Individual Split" a few days after Greg Abbott speaks during a campaign event on February 23 in Houston. The warnings led to renewed calls for the Legislature to take more urgent action to fix the power grid. Of the trio, King received the most contributions from Karnei by far: five between 2004 and 2016 totaling $475, according to TEC records. Because Texas doesnt have limits on contribution amounts, rich and powerful people can cut massive checks to campaigns. Abbott's campaign said his roughly $25 million in donations from the most recent filing period came from nearly 45,000 contributors, which is 1/10th of the number of donors reported by his challenger over the same time period. The power grid was not included. Dan Patrick pressured Abbott in public statements that issues related to the grid needed to be on the agenda. Warren spent more than $10 million to try to get Trump reelected in 2020. Greg Abbott urges letting the vote counting play out in Trump-Biden race, How a Joe Biden win isnt necessarily bad news for Texas Gov. O'Rourke's campaign said he got over 115,600 contributions over the 46-day period, while Abbott's team said. Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke has had $47,177,963 contributed to his campaign. Over that same short stretch in June, 11 prominent oil industry leaders, including billionaires Kelcy Warren, S. Javaid Anwar and Douglas Scharbauer all three whom could not be reached for comment combined to contribute about $3.2 million to Texas elected officials, up from about $2.2 million over the same period following the previous legislative session in 2019. Abbott has run a similar playbook as Perry and has taken it to a different level, Rottinghaus said. Abbotts a prolific fundraiser, a weapon hes wielded to discourage competition as he moved up among Texas Republicans over the past two decades. DeSantis, who frequently tangles . King, Slawson and Shaheen did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment for this story. Abbott compares to the 10 other governors with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA in 2022: The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Texas PACs submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. reason, summary numbers are usually higher (and more current) than the numbers based on detailed records. Dozens of donations in quantities like $100,000, $50,000, and $25,000 and page after page of $10,000 donations poured in over the course of the election cycle from individuals and PACs alike. Greg Abbott's 2022 reelection campaign is reporting contributions of 19-million-dollars in the last nine days of June. The Past 30 Days column represents the last 30 days of donations, starting with the date of the most recent contribution for that race. Greg Abbott hauled in nearly $19 million over nine days and boasted an eye-popping $55 million in the bank as he prepares his campaign for a . For a time, there was buzz about Shelley Luther, who catapulted to fame for reopening her Dallas hair salon in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. He loves being lieutenant governor and is not running against Gov. Gas producers got a pass by Texas policymakers, said Michael Webber, professor of energy resources at the University of Texas at Austin. These are the latest numbers ahead of Election Day. Stressing a different approach, the O'Rourke campaign embarks Tuesday on a 49-day campaign tour through Texas that will involve driving more than 5,600 miles. As a Republican and a Texan, Abbott may have received significant campaign contributions from the NRA. The O'Rourke campaign said nearly all of the more than 511,000 contributions to the campaign, at an average of $54, came from online donors and that teachers contributed more than people from any other occupation. 20005. profiles for state and federal officeholders are derived from contribution records disclosed in campaign finance According to the most recent campaign finance reports made to the Texas Ethics Commission, the governor received $44,778,653 in total contributions and spent $37,930,300 between January 1, 2021 and February 19, 2022. If, for instance, Henry Jones lists his employer as First National This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and motivation for each individual giver. The two-term governor is one of the most prolific GOP fundraisers in the country and had previously reported raising more than $30 million through the first half of the year and said Tuesday his campaign has now raised $95 million during the current election cycle from more than 418,000 contributors. A report from Texans for Public Justice released this week found that Abbott raised more than $87 million in campaign contributions from the start of 2017 through the end of last year. "The nearly 113,000 contributions illustrates that Gov. The Republican governor raised 26% more in last years final six months than the $9.1 million he raised in late 2016 the comparable period in his first term. Texas elected officials cant receive campaign donations during the session, but after it ended in May, they were showered in cash by the energy industry even more than usual for a group known for its deep pockets and generous campaign giving. A Crenshaw aide, though, said hes not thinking about running for governor. Open Secrets following the money in politics, OpenSecrets Following the money in politics, Why (and How) We Use Donors' Employer/Occupation Information, Organization unavailable for these records. The Small Donors column represents the sum of itemized contributions from donors who gave an aggregate of less than $50. After the Defenders reached out to Cobos seeking comment Tuesday, Jon Oliver, an OPUC spokesperson, called back and said he was unaware of any campaign contributions made to Abbott. Still, University of North Texas political scientist Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha said Abbotts $38 million will scare off most of the competition.. In fact, Abbott's campaign said he has raised $95 million this election season. Texas Gov. available information, the donor is given an economic code. The Stockyards Station Hotel, recently acquired by Roskis Majestic Realty, donated over $382,000 in event expenses while HillCo PAC, an Austin lobbyist firm, donated a total of $336,000. For his part, Patrick has been pushing the states politics to the rightsince his days as a talk radio host in Houston. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings.